England Earns 9th Straight Win Against Physical Fiji

Quilter Nations Series

England (14) 38

Tries: Cowan-Dickie, Feyi-Waboso, Genge, George, Arundell, Itoje Cons: F Smith 5

Fiji (13) 18

Tries: Ikanivere 2, Muntz Pen: Muntz

The English squad notched 4 tries after halftime to defeat a resilient Fiji side in their second autumn international.

The victory extends Steve Borthwick's side's undefeated streak to nine games and follows up their triumph over the Wallabies last Saturday.

England opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji answered back with tries by Ikanivere and Muntz.

Fly-half the Fijian playmaker failed to convert either try but nailed a penalty to take the Fijians further ahead before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso crossed.

Ellis Genge and the Fijian hooker then exchanged tries to ignite an exciting final forty minutes.

Substitutes George and Henry Arundell, who demonstrated his scintillating pace, touched down to take the hosts clear.

These tries came around Fijian halfback Kuruvoli fumbling the ball when attempting to score.

Skipper Itoje, who also came off the bench, secured the final try.

Borthwick's side now play the All Blacks this coming weekend in their toughest test on paper this fall.

Prior to this encounter, the English team had claimed victory in eight of their nine games with Fiji – most lately taking a close contest in the last eight of the last global tournament.

That one defeat came just weeks before the competition in Europe and was a major turning point under the head coach.

With Fiji on a five-game streak – their equal best streak since the late nineties – the fixture was always likely to be competitive.

After slick phase play, back rower Cunningham-South gained valuable meters before the hooker barged over for the first try from close range, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul providing a swift reply.

Nicknamed the Flying Fijians, that was clear in defense through powerful opening period tackles in the center, with number fifteen Smith, deployed as a additional playmaker, in especial picked out.

But it was the classic attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight in the opening half as passes out of the tackle sliced through the English defense for Muntz to touch down.

The winger expertly collected a cross-field kick by Smith to take England into the lead after he had been illegally challenged in the air by Ravutaumada, who was given a sin-binning following a video review.

The English team pulled away from the Wallabies the previous weekend in the final quarter through the power of their replacements that contained multiple British and Irish Lions.

A much-changed starting lineup from the win over the Wallabies did grab the next try as Genge went over following a strong carry by Lawrence, who was making his international comeback after tearing his Achilles versus Italy in spring.

Nonetheless, after a clever line-out move was completed by the Fijian, the coach introduced several of his substitutes on the 54-minute mark – including Lions tourists Henry Pollock and Curry.

With the match still in the balance, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when reaching for the tryline to negate substitute the hooker's score.

Breakdown specialist Ben Earl, who scored against the Wallabies, produced a stunning game-saving stop to maintain breathing room between the sides.

It capped another all-round impressive display by Earl, who received consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

Arundell's pace to race on to a grubber kick demonstrated exactly why the English replacements is so impactful.

It is full of top players and quality, which has aided in wins in the closing stages that were lost against Australia and the All Blacks last autumn.

Given Scotland ran New Zealand close, Borthwick's side will feel confident of sending a message next week.

If successful, the substitutes will likely again be crucial.

England: M Smith; Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Coles, Chessum, Pepper, Earl, Cunningham-South

Replacements: George, Baxter, Opoku-Fordjour, Itoje, T Curry, Pollock, Spencer, Arundell

Fiji: Rayasi; Ravutaumada, Ravouvou, Tuisova, Wainiqolo; Muntz, Kuruvoli; Mawi, Ikanivere, Doge, Nasilasila, Mayanavanua, Sowakula, Canakaivata, Mata

Replacements: Togiatama, Hetet, Tawake, Vocevoce, Murray, Wye, Armstrong-Ravula, Maqala

Sin-bin: Ravutaumada

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)

Assistant referee: Luc Ramos (France) and Katsuki Furuse (Japan)

Television match official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)